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Author
Topic: Bay Area volunteers for AMG (Read 6618 times)

I've started this thread to be a kind of clearing house for people who live in the Bay Area who can help out with the Russian River AMG.

OK, here's what I can do:

1. Drive up to three people from the Oakland airport to Guerneville and back to the airport or to San Francisco after the reunion. People would have to coordinate their flights so that flight arrivals and departures are reasonably close. I ask only that we do the trip during daylight.

2. Provide transportation for up to three people during the reunion to visit scenic spots in the area.

3. Be a tour guide for anyone visiting San Francisco before or after the reunion. There are a number of outstanding walks that I would be glad to lead. Most of them involve climbing hills. My favorite is a climb up Telegraph Hill, then through North Beach, Russian Hill, and Nob Hill. For the faint of heart, a level walk along the waterfront is also possible.

I'm in for transport. I am hesitant to say the number I can take at one time, as I am thinking about renting an auto for the duration of the Gathering.

I'm a good night driver, so perhaps I might be able to pick up the slack from Allan during evening/night hours (comes from driving to the Cache Creek casino late night after work ).

As mentioned in my post on the main thread, while Oakland Intl. is the closest airport to me, San Francisco Intl., Sacramento Intl and San Jose Intl. are also possibilities. I'm only throwing out an educated guess here, but I would think San Jose is the furthest airport away from Guerneville.

I just checked a little further into transportation from the SF and Oakland airports to Guerneville. There is an Airport Express bus that goes directly from each airport to Santa Rosa--every 2 hours from Oakland and every 90 minutes from SF. The trip takes 2 hours. The bus from Santa Rosa to Guerneville takes about an hour. Unfortunately, the airport bus leaves you off at a location in Santa Rosa a couple of miles south of the Guerneville bus. I'm not sure of the best way to get from one to the other.

The Airport Express to and from Santa Rosa is not cheap. It's $28 each way for both airports.

There is an airport in Santa Rosa. Since I have not flown in X# of years, I have no idea where they fly to but, someone should check to see if there is a possible flight to and from the SF, Oakland and/or San Jose airports. That airport is about 15 minutes from Guerneville and they have car rental and taxi available.

First let me just say a big huge THANK YOU to all 3 of you for stepping up and offering to help the co-coordinators with AMG 07.

Next year's gathering is going to be a radical departure from what we did the first two years because the members have selected a more rural setting. Even though that will present Ric and Anne with additional challenges in terms of the logistics, I'm confident (especially based upon what kind of help you guys are already offering) the two of them will put together some good options/suggestions for everyone who is planning on attending.

Me personally, I will either fly into Oakland and rent a car, or I may drive down (live in SW Washington--so it's doable). Either way I'll have a car at my disposal and can provide transportation to any of the activities that end up on the schedule.

9 months may seem like a long time to many, but trust me the gathering will be here before we know it. I'm excited about trying this new idea of being outside a big city. We'll never know if something like this is going to work unless we try it.

I'm also excited that so many have once again stepped forward and expressed a desire to come to AMG. Having been to the first two I know how much fun, fellowship, understanding, friendship, and nurturing can blossom from them.

The Santa Rosa airport is for private and corporate jets. (Attendees with private jets, take note!)

The Santa Rosa Airport Express Bus actually terminates at the Santa Rosa airport (officially known as the Charles Schulz Sonoma County Airport). According to Google Maps, it's 17.5 miles from Guerneville, which is a few miles closer than the stop in central Santa Rosa.

The possibilitiy of taking a single bus from either the Oakland or San Francisco airport to Santa Rosa makes it a lot less daunting to get to Guerneville than I had initially thought. The bad news is that this method is not cheap. ($56 roundtrip on the bus + an unknown amount for getting from Santa Rosa to Guerneville.)

I had a job interview near the Sonoma County airport once. It takes 2 hours to get from Guerneville to Santa Rosa (by bus), a distance of about 20 miles. I drove the car the distance of about 17.5 miles to the interview. I have never taken public transportation in Sonoma County.

I'm in Red Bluff, about 200 N. of S.F. Too far to get together for a last minute for a tete a tete but close enough to be of some help. I will have a car also that can seat 5 (me and 4 others). I will be able to meet people at the airport.

We should encourage people to fly into Oakland. Even the international flights. Of course if they fly from say, LON, or any other European capitol, they can fly non-stop into SFO. But if they decide to go through customs at JFK or IAD (Dulles, Washington), then they could connect to flights into OAK. Flights from Austraila/New Zealand, and Asia fly non-stop into both LAX and SFO. If they fly into LAX then they can connect to OAK. Same for S. American. Again, most flights arrive in LAX and connections can be made for Oakland. Oakland also has a lot of cheaper flights for people flying domesically.

Having 3 or 4 cars (more would be better of course) we can stagger our drives to the River to cover most of the arrivals. Or, like Joseph (Strayboi) has mentioned we can rent a bus and get people to wait at the airport until the bus is full.

There are a lot of possibilities. A lot to talk about. Rocky is right, though. Nine months isn't long. But we'll figure it all out.

There are a few big events on the river during August and September, Big Bear Weekend, Womens Weekend and the RR Jazz Festival. Probably a few others. I recommend looking at accomodations ASAP. Having so many Forum Members here will be quite a treat for me as I have never actually met even one of you yet. Ever so looking forward to having you here. Have the best dayMichael

Allan,I am working on it as we speak. This years Jazz Festival was on Sept 9 & 10. I know the promoter, when I lived in L.A.. . I have to go into town tomorrow so I can ask around and find the dates of the other functions. Have the best dayMichael

Burke's Canoe Trips can be found at www.burkescanoetrips.com. It is an all day rental, self-guided tour. They provide transportation in an old school bus. Mr. Burke does a lot of fundraising for Kids with Cancer and may be open to a lower rate. The tour starts just upstream from my house and goes to Guerneville. They pick up the canoes. Have the best dayMichael(who has his own canoe)

The calendar for September 2007 shows that the Jazz Festival will take place Sept. 8 & 9th. I know this is a very popular event, so we should definitely avoid this particular weekend.

Women's Weekend is in May 2007, and Bear Week is August 1-6, so they shouldn't be problems.

The above calendar shows a Food and Wine Festival on September 24th, probably another date to avoid.

It may be best to schedule the AMG during the weekend after the Jazz Festival (Sept 15th & 16th).

We should verify the information in the above website before committing to a date. It would be very bad to have people make plans and then find that we can't get suitable accommodations.

======Edited to add the following:

If anyone takes the Santa Rosa Airport bus from Oakland or S.F. to the Santa Rosa airport, once I'm in Guerneville, I wouldn't mind picking them up at the Santa Rosa airport. Or I could stop by the Santa Rosa Airport on the way to Guerneville. Timing all of this stuff makes my head spin.

Although the Santa Rosa airport currently has no commercial flights, I read that in June 2007 they will be starting twice daily service from L.A. and once-daily service from Seattle. Something to consider for attendees traveling from either of those two cities. Here's more information on this: http://news.cheapflights.com/airlines/2006/04/scheduled_fligh.html

Horizon Air, a subsidiary of Alaska Airlines will be starting flights into Santa Rosa starting in March 2007, nonstop from both Seattle and Los Angeles.

While there will be much fewer flights to choose from with this option (as opposed to flights into one of the larger Bay Area airports), it could be a good option for some, especially those transferring thru LAX.